Reclusion
by arisu rin
Summary: He was a puppet, a marionette, just dangling of a string. And when the string gets cut off, he'll be dead, and Ryuuko will take over. Sins like skeletons, so very hard to hide.
1. Hysteria

**_I do not own Monochrome Factor, no mater how much I wish I did.  
_**

* * *

**Reclusion**

**Prologue: Hysteria**

_Tick tock, tick tock, time is running out  
Akira's sanity is falling out  
Slowly burning slowly from doubt_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_He was a puppet. _

_Insignificant and worthless little toy, and the only power that he even held, never truly belonged to him. _

_All of it belonged to Ryuuko, not him. Just someone whose power belonged inside him, someone whose memories are inside of him, someone who takes control of his body at times of danger, he has no control inside of him._

_That is what angered him the most, the one thing that had changed his life, that one thing that washed all this boredom and the normal everyday routine and it wasn't meant for him. It was meant for that thing inside him._

_The King of the Rei…_

_A royal line of light…being a Rei that thought practically disgusted him. Grouping him with the same person who gains control of his body, that is an insult formed in many ways. _

_A game that was all it was. _

_And he was a meaningless puppet, a marionette hanging of strings. _

_And soon the strings will be cut off, and he'll be dead, while Ryuuko lives. _

_It's some sick joke, sent out to taunt him, to control him, to kill him. It was stupid beyond words that he could ever think that this was ever all right. That nothing would ever go wrong, that life could stay boring for him in a single moment of time. _

_But of course, fate had to jump out and surprise him. After all these years, something finally happens. It was ridiculous, a blasphemy in many forms, a cruel trick of fate causing him to fall into the Shadow's grasp. _

Trembling with insanity, he started laughing, a wild, hysterical cackle. It was a sudden movement, which caused the Shin next to him to jolt awake. "Akira?" his name slipped of the shin's tongue softly, each syllable carefully pronounced in a melodic song.

The young Shin didn't even bother to glance at him, didn't even bother to spare him a glance, and just stared blankly into space, dazed. The stormy sea in his eyes faded to a series of monochrome colors, completely empty and lost. It was a feeling of mass hysteria, madness, a sense of dread.

Akira was gone.

His Akira was gone, and all that was left was this body with no master.

Suddenly the laughter consumed the young shin again, calling him into the empty void of darkness, letting him fall into oblivion. Shirogane looked at Akira, watching his every breath rise and fall with every passing second. And in just a few hours he'll be gone from his reach, so he watched him lose the final moments of his sanity.

_Does he even want this?_

That question lingered on in Shirogane's mind, as he focused on the brunette next to him, sleeping so calmly on the bed. It seems as if the affect of the hysteria has been put on hold and is probably somewhere in his mind, lurking around waiting for the perfect moment to jump. It was all too silent for a moment, a moment that seemed like forever, before the screaming begun.

"_It does not require him to be the puppet master; it just requires intent,"_

_

* * *

_

_**And that is the prologue. How was it? I wrote this ages ago. Like September-October-November**-**December of last year. One of those months, don't remember. I was bored, so i decided to post it, simply out of the decision to post it. I love how one of the volumes of Monochrome Factor released on my Birthday. No surprise what I got. So tell me what you think. I don't know about romance. I can't write yaoi to save my life. I really can't write it, so don't expect ShiroAki or KenAki...or whatever pairing you love. I don't know what I orignally planned for this story, so don't even bother asking, till next week. I need to work on my other story-Down the Rabbit's Hole. **_**_It has been a while since i read this, so forgive the mistakes. I can't ramble on this story's author's note as much as I would like to. I just pissed off my parents, and now they are at the mall while i am at home. Good. I really don't like the silent anger that illuminates of them. Was it my fault i didn't want to go to the damn mall? _**

**_Sorry I was lashing my anger out at you all. So it is just me, my cat, my rabbit, and my four fishes that may or may not be dead. _**

**_The song of the entire story is Reclusion by Anberlin, AKA, one of the greatest bands ever. _**

**_The song of the chapter is Muse's Hysteria-Muse one of the other greatest bands ever. _**

**_So Review. Because i really wanna know what you think of it. _**

**_Review, and thank you.  
_**


	2. This Ain't A Scene

_**No ownership of Monochrome Factor.**_

* * *

**Reclusion**

**This Ain't a Scene**

Akira showed up at school, with no memory of the incident last night. Shirogane, not wanting a repeat of the breakdown, chose not to say anything about it. But still, even with him acting, he could still see something was wrong.

He seemed so much more mellow. Calm and unhurried, he actually stayed in class as if he was soaking up the normality. The surprised looks exchanged by Kengo and Aya did not go unnoticed by Shirogane. The two would study Akira, and then quickly turn to each other sharing looks of puzzlement. When the two approached Shirogane, he just smiled and told them Akira had a rough night, but after that he would say no more.

Around lunch time, Akira went to the usual spot near the rooftop. But he wandered away from his friends and stood leaning on the railing, looking up at the sky.

From afar, it looked as if he was in deep thought. It looked like he was in his own world, so dazed, lost and confused as Alice who landed in Wonderland. And it's true; he is in deep thought, confined in the prison of his mind. Shirogane watched the young shin, slowly destroy the life around him.

No one even dared to approach him; the aura around him was so deadly as you get neared even Kengo wouldn't even dare to approach him. Akira's aquamarine eyes seemed much darker, like murky sea water. His mind must be like that as well, dark and murk with no source of light hidden.

A caged bird.

No…Akira wasn't just a bird, he was magnificent and powerful and graceful the way he was. And now he's like a caged hawk unable to spread their wings. The silence around him, made him seem like a hawk who couldn't cry out for battle.

Later that day, when school was over and Akira was free, he left them all. He left Kengo, Aya, and even Shirogane. All three were flabbergasted by Akira's change in behavior and disappearance. But none of them could see that Akira was there, perched up on the tree, lazily gazing at the world like a cat.

He regarded the world with sharp eyes that studied his surroundings carefully, but there was a hint of sleepiness there that was in his eyes as he lounged, but he didn't dare to close his eyes. "Shirogane," he spoke, causing Shirogane to look up into his eyes. "What is it, Akira-kun?" He spoke in that sickly sweet tone, just hoping to get a rise out of the young Shin, but alas no avail. The young Shin, just regarded him with unfeeling eyes that show not a trace of anger and despair.

"If a stranger turns out missing…this is my confession."

Akira jumped down and begun to walk away, leaving Shirogane behind.

It didn't feel right.

His words seemed more like last words, famous last words that belong to him. Akira has always secluded himself from people, he was a loner. It was only because of the physical and mental physique that Akira showed to the world that got him accepted. But there were some like Kengo and Aya, who just accepted him, but still Akira shielded himself from them.

It was hard from him to trust, but still…Shirogane believes that he can love. Akira has the capability to love another human being all for the sake of loving. It's just that it's easier said than done. Love cannot come naturally to those refined and distant as Akira.

But still, he wishes to see him spare them a smile. A light happy smile, a genuine one; not one of his usual smirks though, just something real and true. Shirogane could only state one thing about Akira.

_Even though he's human, he doesn't act like one._

That's the real honest truth about Akira Nikaido; he is never what he seems.

_A friend should be a master at guessing and keeping still: you must not want to see everything.__  
__-__Friedrich Nietzsche_

_

* * *

People are freaks. Trying to steal my Pocky. Show it to class for less than a second and they all are crowded around me, like a bunch of animals. I almost died. This chapter took me four months to write, and still it is short. A little Akira character study and stuff. I'm working on it. I'll plot it out eventually. I'll be spending the first few weeks of summer trying to catch up with all the monochrome factor.  
_

_So much to do...So little time. _

_So how's your life? Mine is okay...but I gotta study. Finals all week. D: Kill me now. Never mind, don't kill me. I got a lot to do. And a lot to live for. _

_Tell me what you think. I really wanna know. My attempt at a Dark fic. I'm still wondering about romance. Seems like a one-sided Shiro/Aki to me. But what do I know? Review and spare us all the horror of the slow updates.  
_


End file.
